Alan E. Eyre is the first-ever Persian language spokesperson of the United States Department of State. Eyre became the State Department's Persian-language spokesperson in April 2011. The post was created as part of U.S. government efforts to communicate with the Iranian peoples.
Early life and education
He studied American literature at Dartmouth College and became interested in Sufi poetry, so he taught himself Persian. He lived for a few years in Los Angeles and made friends in the city's large Iranian expatriate community.
Career
Eyre was the head of Iran office at the U.S. Consulate in Dubai, and is a fluent Persian speaker with Iranian proverbs and expressions. Eyre has been interviewed in Persian by some Persian-language media.
Eyre was involved in the nuclear talks with Iran and participated in written framework agreement negotiation.
References
- Kufman, Stephen (12 October 2011). "Persian-Language Spokesman Seeks to Build U.S.-Iranian Ties". U.S. Department of State. Open Publishing. Archived from the original on 13 April 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
- Esfandiari, Golnaz (9 April 2011). "State Department's First Persian-Language Spokesperson Could Appear in Iranian State Media". Radio Free Europe. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- "Interview Alan Eyre". BBC persian. 13 December 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- Morello, Carol (20 March 2015). "Alan Eyre: State Department's Farsi-speaking man at Iran nuclear talks". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 April 2015.